{"id":2889,"date":"2019-07-30T10:49:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T10:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracamacheltrust.org\/?p=2889"},"modified":"2019-07-30T10:49:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T10:49:08","slug":"nutrition-advocacy-in-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/highlight\/nutrition-advocacy-in-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Nutrition Advocacy in Action!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Our focus in the Nutrition Programme is to place nutrition high on the agenda of governments and civil society as a key development issue.\u00a0 Working with civil societies, our advocacy efforts are aimed at creating greater awareness and political commitment for effective food security and nutrition. Here is what our nutrition advocates got up to in the months of June and July.<\/p>\n

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The importance of milk consumption for nutrition!<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Maxwell Mumba, Young Leader in Nutrition and Nutrition Champion, Christine Muyama of GMT, Mathews Mhuru, Zambia CSO SUN, Kgomotso Seko of GMT and Esther Chungu, Zambian Gospel singer and CSO SUN Nutrition Champion<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

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On 01 June 2019 our Nutrition Programme team\u00a0 visited Zambia CSO Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance (SUN) in Lusaka and took part in a World Milk Day marathon that aimed at increasing awareness on the need to increase the consumption of milk among young and adolescents if we are to prevent non-communicable diseases.<\/p>\n

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The team was excited and braved the cold at six in the morning to join the marathon which was divided into 5km walk, 5km run and 10km run, topping it up with an aerobics session. CSO SUN has partnered with the Zambia Dairy Association to raise awareness on the importance of milk, storing it properly to maintain freshness from transportation to consumption. This campaign was created to raise awareness on breastfeeding, and\u00a0 the intake of milk. The recommended amount for each Zambian is 500ml per day although currently it\u2019s less than 100ml, with households sharing as little as a carton per week! School children were involved in the programme, chanting the slogan is \u201cMilk everyday, stronger forever\u201d and it was an honour to be part of this creative programme!<\/p>\n

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The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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With the\u00a0 support of our partners CARE International, the Nutrition Programme participated in the validation workshop for Zambia CAADP Biennial Review Report (BRR) to facilitate civil society input. African member states are mandated to report progress made in the Malabo commitments (targeted to be achieved by 2025) every two years. Once the BRR process is finalized and validated by all stakeholders, the report is then submitted to the\u00a0 Southern African Development Community (SADC).<\/p>\n

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The validation workshop, which took place on 21 June 2019 in Lusaka, Zambia,\u00a0 was convened by the Agricultural Consultative Forum (ACF). It was important for CSOs to be represented and their input taken into account so that it is not merely the government reporting on themselves. It was a successful and engaging validation process, with participants from Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Ministry of Finance, Women Farmers groups and the University of Dar es Salaam, all working toward a successful submission.<\/p>\n

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Reach Up Regional Training<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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On 01 July 2019, the Nutrition team participated in a training in Nairobi, Kenya. The training was presented by Dr. Powell who shared findings from a research, which was made possible and worked on through the University of the West Indies. The research was based on the effects of extreme malnutrition and stunting on children from 0-3 years, to 14 years and 22-30 years old. There were four groups of children in the sample, 32 or 33 in each cohort;<\/p>\n